Martha, Maggie, Sally and I are deeply grateful for all of the wonderful support we received during the campaign.  While more formal acknowledgements and thanks are in the works, we take this moment to let everyone know how much we appreciate the grassroots campaign we created. 

 As Ruth Johnson says, “Yeah, team!”

And, because of her extraordinary mentorship and friendship, we say:

“Yeah, Ruth!”

When I came home tonight, my daughter Maggie handed me a piece of paper.  On it was a letter that she had submitted to the St. Peter Herald, hoping to surprise me when it was published.  The paper apologized, explaining that it was not running letters from family members of candidates.

Some moments of a campaign are so special, so touching that they remind me why I am running—when you read Maggie’s letter, I hope you agree:

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When I think of my dad I think of how honest, kind, intelligent, and funny he is.  I am so proud of him for having the courage to step up and run for the Minnesota State House of Representatives.  This campaign has been hard on our entire family, my dad hasn’t been home as much as he used to. Negative ads have been sent out making him look bad, other ads have been sent out against his opponent even though my dad asked the people who sent them not to, because my dad thinks that negative ads are wrong. In spite of all this campaign has really been worth it.

My dad has worked hard on the campaign for almost a whole year.  Even as busy as my dad is, he still finds time to edit my English papers, quiz Sally on her spelling, and taxi us where we need to go.

I have learned a ton throughout the entire campaign; most of it came from my dad.  Being on the campaign trail has taught me how to properly door knock, lit. drop, and put up lawn signs. It has taught me never to do anything embarrassing in a car that has your last name on the side of it.  I now know how important health care, education, and the environment are and why, I also learned that you can’t propose a solution for a problem without thinking through how that solution will be funded and how it will help the district. Most importantly I have learned that you always have to listen to others, just like my dad does.

I have watched my dad work so hard for this job and I know that he will continue to work hard for the people of this district if he is elected.  I hope that he earns all of your votes because I know that he will represent district 23A well.

 Whether or not my dad is elected I will be very proud of him.  I know that he has run a good and honest campaign and has been the best role model I could have asked for.